The Fading of the Light
by apAidan
Summary: Disaster has struck. Evil has triumphed. And only Luna sees the impending apocalypse. Well, Luna and several thousand of her closest online friends. Set in the same 'Luna gamergirl' world as Luna's Road Trip. Rated T for convention references. The second chapter is set within NCSoft's 'City of Heroes' and involves Luna and several persons from that world, which is now gone.
1. The Horror The Horror

**The Fading of the Light**

_**a/n –** All of the recognizable portions of the Harry Potter universe are the property of JK Rowling. The reference to Conrad's extraordinary novel 'The Heart of Darkness' is simply for dramatic effect and isn't meant to demean or detract from that work. If you haven't read it, you should. Any references to Tolkien's works are property of the estate of JRR Tolkien. An additional author's note and disclaimer follows the story._

* * *

**Chapter One – The Horror. The Horror**

_Friday, 31 August, 2012 – Potter Hall, near Mt. Snowden Cymru_

"Those absolute imbeciles!"

Looking up from her discussion of the changes in the Arithmancy curriculum that would start on Tuesday at Hogwarts, Tracy Davis gave a nervous glance at Hermione who was calmly sipping her mug of tea and reaching for another scone.

"Luna sounds a bit …" Breaking off at the sound of breaking crystal and shattering china, she shrugged. "A bit upset?"

"If it was a real disaster, she would have activated the wards and no one would have heard her before she dealt with whatever it was," Hermione replied as she held the platter out for Tracy to inspect. "There's still a gooseberry one left, and you still haven't explained how you convinced Minerva to start Runes and Arithmancy in second year."

"Actually, it's only the precursors," Tracy replied as she kept one eye on the entrance to the sitting room where she could see the stairs to the upper levels of the mansion. "Intermediate maths for me to get them up to speed and Harrington's teaching that 'Snooping on Gimli and Legolas' abomination she cobbled together for remedial Runes."

Frowning, Hermione rolled her eyes, "First, she got married over the summer, one of Marietta's younger siblings so she's an Edgecombe now. Secondly, it's called 'Runes of Middle Earth' and she's using Tolkien's notes she found from where he simplified two different sets of Runes for his novels. She's going to use them as a starting point, she's absolutely correct that people forget that these things are parts of actual languages. If she can get the students comfortable with writing actual papers and stories with them, using them to construct wards and devices will be much easier."

"It'll never last," Tracy said in an offhand manner as she helped herself to another scone. Seeing the look on Hermione's face, she chuckled. "The marriage, not the course. Anything to raise the scores for Runes would be a blessing; it's just that the goblins get a bit twitchy every time Tolkien's brought up."

Waving her hand dismissively, Hermione laughed. "Ragnok thinks it's a hoot, and that's all that matters. He had a home cinema rig installed in his boardroom, he keeps playing those scenes from _'The Two Towers'_ with the Uruk-Hai on loop and muttering, 'I've got to get some of those' just to annoy his account managers."

Before Tracy could tell Hermione about someone at Gringotts placing small portraits of Dumbledore in the urinals in the wizard's lavatories in the employee break room labeled 'Saruman', a blonde whirlwind came storming into the sitting room.

"Evil is going to prevail. The Long Night is coming!" Luna yelled as she whirled into the room. Going over to her desk in the corner, she was hastily rummaging through piles of papers as she continued to rant.

"Those evil wankers. Dark Lords in training every one of them." Shaking her head, she suddenly looked up and noticed Tracy and Hermione sitting there for the first time.

Picking up a folder, she rushed over to where they were sitting and waved it frantically at Tracy.

"What kind of monster could do this? Have they no heart? Have they no decency?" Looking up to the ceiling, her silver-grey eyes flashed as she implored, "Where is their humanity?"

"Lu," Hermione began in a calm and collected voice. "If something's wrong, just tell me and I'll help you fix it."

"It can't be fixed," Luna snarled with a manic look in her eyes. "Nothing will ever be the same. Evil will prevail. There will be crime running rampant in the street, evil druids casting spells will he nil he, foul undead abominations shambling through peaceful train stations, storm-trooper vampires teaching preschool in the suburbs."

Shaking her head, she leaned over and handed a piece of paper to Hermione and hissed "Paragon City is gone."

Looking down at the screen print, Hermione shook her head. "Well, technically, it's not really gone until the end of the year."

"War Witch has left the building. Statesman has headed for the West Coast to find employment. It's just a mockery, a hollow shell."

Drawing herself up, she glared at Tracy. "Do you know what kind of evil person could do this? Rip the heart and soul out of a city, leave the East Coast defenseless? Do you?"

Shaking her head, Tracy nervously kept her eyes on Luna, missing the small smile on Hermione's lips.

"I'll tell you what kind," Luna hissed. "Only the foulest of evils, ones so dark that even Voldemort would have run in terror at their approach." Looking around, checking the room for dangers, Luna snapped back to Tracy and hissed.

"Accountants, it was accountants and marketing managers that killed it. They're the ones that sacrificed Paragon City on the bonfire of their hubris."

"Lu, maybe we can help. I'll talk to Harry when he gets back from Buenos Aries …"

"Harry! That's it! Hermione, you're a genius." Bouncing around the room, Luna was doing her giddy schoolgirl imitation to excess.

"Harry has loads of money he never uses. I've got loads of money from Daddy I never use. You've got hoards of money from those trashy romance novels you write that you never use."

Jumping up on her desk, Luna was doing her 'happy end zone dance' and chortling "We'll buy it, we'll buy it!" over and over.

Tracy flashed Hermione a disbelieving look and mouthed 'romance novels' and smirked as the blush on Hermione's cheeks confirmed it. Before she could tease her about it, Luna somersaulted off the desk and ran over to kiss Hermione on the cheek.

"You're simply a genius. I've got to pack."

As she rushed from the room, she called over her shoulder, "I'll catch an international portkey to Brazil, track down Harry, we'll go buy the bloody company since its right next door and I'll be home for dinner."

Stopping in the doorway, she nodded triumphantly. "Tell Kreacher to make certain there's pudding for dinner tonight. Lots and lots of pudding."

And with that, she disappeared.

As she turned her attention back to Hermione, Tracy just shook her head in disbelief.

"It's a game," Hermione explained. "A game on the computer that muggles play called 'City of Heroes'. Lu's very fond of it, she really gets into the whole comic book thing and she's been playing since it first started. Apparently the company that owns it is going to fold it."

"Is she always this … obsessed with things?"

Chuckling, Hermione shrugged. "She bought a house in Hogsmeade that she shielded so she could get a broadband connection so she could play during the school year. You tell me."

"Do you think Harry will buy it for her?" Looking perplexed, Tracy was trying to equate buying a 'game' with buying something she could understand. "It can't be that expensive, can it?"

"Depends upon why they're dumping it," Hermione mused as she read through the printouts Luna handed her. "If he doesn't have to buy the entire company, he might. He hates to see her disappointed."

"Wait, Harry would buy her an entire company so she can keep playing a game?"

"Only if it was sustainable," Hermione replied. "He wouldn't buy it if we'd go bust keeping it afloat, but if it's viable …"

"And you'd let him?"

"The Potters have over a dozen properties on three continents, the Blacks about the same. We own stock in half the most profitable companies in the muggle world and two thirds of the ones in the magical world. Luna could spend money like a drunken sailor at a hooker convention for the rest of her life and Harry wouldn't blink.

"A drunken sailor at a hooker convention?"

"She means I could spend money like Hermione Potter at a booksellers convention," Luna chortled from the doorway. "I've got a portkey in two minutes; I'll be home for pudding."

Rushing out of the doorway, Luna headed for the downstairs linen closet that was the manor's first floor portkey exit point.

Shaking her head, Tracy picked up a scone and smirked.

"So tell me," she drawled. "Hermione Granger, Prefect extraordinaire writing bodice rippers, how'd that happen?"

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_**a/n2 –** All of the properties and characters associated with the 'City of Heroes' franchise are owned by the NCSoft Corporation. Unfortunately, it appears that no white knights are going to appear to save Paragon City, this time. My apologies to any and all accountants out there, Luna's just a bit high strung._


	2. One Last Look

**The Fading of the Light**

_An author's note will follow this chapter_

* * *

**Chapter Two – One Last Look**

_1145 pm Server time, 30 November 2012 – Croatoa Station, Paragon City_

As the monorail rumbled into the station, Luna glanced down to see that her pack was still with her. Even though the station was almost empty, a few citizens were moving to and fro not realizing that their world was about to end, she liked to keep an eye on her pack when they were out and about. As the doors slid open with a hiss, she quickly stepped out of the car, slinging her bookbag up on her back as the three howler wolves took up their places around her.

"I'll call your friend for one last romp in the woods," she promised as she broke into a run down the sloping ramp that connected the station to the city surrounding it.

Activating the steam propelled 'jetpack' she'd acquired in a squalid dungeon over in Brickstown as soon as she hit the pavement, she kicked off and started flying over the city towards the lake.

High above the city, she could see the roving packs of the Tuatha battling the witches of the mysterious coven known as the Cabal, while the residents of the lakeside resort city and college town tried to stay out of their way. Just another day in Croatoa.

As her flight path took her over Lake Salamanca, she could see the serpentine head of Sally, the legendary lake monster off to her right. Giving a sharp whistle to keep her wolves from being distracted, she angled towards the wooded island that was her destination tonight.

As she began to glide towards the northern end of the small island, she could see her friend and mentor War Witch sitting cross-legged, her ghostly form hovering a foot or so above the grass.

As Luna touched down lightly, she allowed the Victorian steampack to fold up and waited for her pack of howler wolves to join her. As the three massive canines bounded into the clearing, shaking themselves vigorously to rid their fur of the lakewater, she grinned.

"Greetings Clarissa," she said sweetly as she plopped down on the grass near the hovering ghost.

"Greetings Lunar Harmony, Beast Mistress and Wielder of the Power of the Storm," War Witch replied with a sad look on her face. "I would have thought you would have been at City Hall with the rest?"

"Atlas Park is a zoo tonight," Luna scoffed, waving her hand airily in the general direction of where the central administrative district of Paragon City could be found, if only for a little while longer.

"And speaking of zoos, that reminds me."

Bouncing to her feet, she raised her face to the sky and gave out a long, mournful howl. A responding howl came from deep in the forest and out of the trees bounded a massive dire wolf.

Five feet tall at the shoulder, the massive canine bounded our to her had licked her face, all the while wagging its tail like an overgrown puppy. Though the howler wolves were ferocious predators, and their alpha had been known to take down a 15 foot rampaging robot by itself, they all three were cowed by the presence of the legendary predator.

"Fluffy, you take the boys and go play in the woods for a bit," Luna instructed. "Redcaps and pumpkin heads are perfectly fine, but no chasing the witches or will-o-wisps unless they attack first," she said as she ruffled the massive canine's ears.

Seeing the reproachful look on his face, she frowned. "I'm serious."

Nodding, the massive wolf looked over its shoulder at the three howler wolves, nodded once, and they all broke for the tree line.

As the wolves disappeared from sight, Luna flopped herself back onto the ground so she could watch War Witch out of the corner of her eye and still see the waters of Lake Salamanca as they lapped on the beach down below what was called Sunset Point.

"You're troubled, young one," War Witch observed as she hovered.

"And you should be," Luna retorted in her Luna Harmony persona. "People have worked so hard to preserve this, to keep the Night back and now it's all for naught."

"It's never for naught," War Witch observed sagely. "The light always blossoms, that is what it does. Evil seeks to corrupt and engulf, that is what it does. Because the struggle ends here, doesn't mean that it ends everywhere." Pausing for a moment, she chuckled.

"And it's not as if Evil triumphed. It's simply 'business'. For reasons known only to 'They Who Must Not Be Named' Paragon City's run in the outer world has come to an end."

"It all feels so … It feels as if it was such as waste," Luna replied as she watched Sally raise her majestic head from the waters of the lake and look around. "I've got friends and allies here …"

"As you do in your real world, little one," War Witch countered. "It isn't as if this was when you were growing up, you have friends and family, ones who love you and will stick by you."

Smirking, War Witch wagged her finger at the disgruntled Beast Mistress. "Your spouses even looked into trying to save this for you, didn't they?"

"Apparently, 'loads of money' can't compete with 'fiscal realities," Luna groused. "Harry said his financial manager heard a rumor that they're being paid to take everything offline."

Far off, in the city, they could hear the warning notices alerting Heroes and Villains alike that there were five minutes until it was all over.

Shaking her head, War Witch looked at the young girl and smiled. "You never did say why you weren't over in Atlas Park tonight. Most everyone's there, saying 'goodbye'."

"Too crowded," Luna said simply. "Too noisy. Whoever included drums in the standard kit …"

Seeing the smirk on War Witch's face, Luna scowled. "They've got a drumline three deep around the statue in front of City Hall. If I wanted obnoxious dance music, I would have gone to Pocket D."

"The only mystery there is why Desperate Guy has never given up," came a voice from behind them.

Looking over her shoulder, Lunar Harmony smiled as Sniper 7 touched down on the grass lightly behind them. Hoisting his massive sniper rifle over his shoulder, he nodded to War Witch politely as he carefully moved forward.

"I thought you would be in Atlas Park," Luna observed as the tall Blaster knelt down beside her. "Though the last I had heard you were in Dark Astoria."

"Just helping out a friend," he replied as he reached into one of the pouches on the utility belt he wore. Pulling out a badge emblazoned with a ring of stars surrounding a set of scales, he flipped it to her.

"Surgeon and Raider thought you should have this, even though you never petitioned the group for admission," he said as she caught the badge from the Paragon Swat supergroup with her offhand. "Since all of the active 50s were in agreement …"

Blushing, Luna took the badge and pinned it on her costume, the Bronze and Blue tones of Ravenclaw immediately shifting to the more muted greys and blues of the supergroup.

Hearing the warning klaxon, she looked up and sighed.

"It's time."

"Look" whispered War Witch, and Sniper 7 lifted his eyes to Heaven (There is always a last time for everything).

Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.

_Fin  
_

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_A/n – Everything from the world of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and her corporate partners. Everything from City of Heroes (except for our memories) belongs to NCSoft. Lunar Harmony and Sniper 7 are heroes from the game, Luna said her Beast Mistress alter ego could come out and play one final time and Sniper 7 is a level 50 assault rifle/gadget Blaster, so he does pretty much what he wants these days. _

_Apologies to all of you who are not familiar with the game, but I tried to keep everything as self-explanitory as I could.  
_

_The last two lines were adapted from Arthur C Clarke's remarkable 1953 short story "The Nine Billion Names of God". No disrespect or infringement was intended, but I've never read a more perfect scene for describing the end of the world, quietly and without any fuss._

_Farewell to all of those who played the game. And since the motto of Paragon City was 'The Birthplace of Tomorrow', remember what a wise man once said._

_"Don't despair for tomorrow. Look it in the eye and say 'hello'. Or, if necessary, wrestle it to the ground, put your knee on its neck and make it cry 'uncle' because we're heroes. This is what we do."  
_


End file.
